Fintan Warfield (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the announcement made by Facebook that it will no longer accept advertisements aimed at the upcoming referendum on the eighth amendment if funded by organisations outside the country. From today such advertisements will be rejected. The Irish Timesreports that a combination of machine learning and good old-fashioned people power will govern this initiative. Facebook has some automated tools at its disposal that would help to identify and reject advertisements. In case anything slips through the net, the advocacy groups and the transparent referendum initiative will have an input into the reporting process. These groups have dedicated communications channels with Facebook. While there are no facilities for ordinary citizens to contact Facebook directly and report advertisements, one could bring an advertisement to the attention of the advocacy groups and the transparent referendum initiative. I encourage all citizens to be proactive in the absence of legislation.

We are in the full swing of the referendum campaign that has taken an unprecedented turn. undecided8has been shut down thanks to the stellar investigation carried out by the tech journalist Gavin Sheridan. However, as he knows, it is only a start. The State has a responsibility to the voting public which has been targeted by a foreign source which is seeking to deceive undecided voters and its resources are greater than those of the Standards in Public Office Commission, SIPO, and the Referendum Commission combined. It is undermining their work. This should absolutely be a call to action for Google, Youtube and the State. The State is failing to give resources to SIPO to investigate effectively whether campaigns are receiving donations from international sources. Will we continue to have zero defence against foreign influences on public votes and will the online free-for-all continue?